Quick translation, letter to host family
 

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I would really appreciate a tiny bit of help here:
I'm writing a letter to my host family soon to be. I just want to let them know who I am, and ask them what I need to bring and tell them how excited I am. My japanese has become terrible because I never practice, so I really need the help. Hopefully this is going to be quick. I'll include what I want to say and then I'll share what I think is correct (in japanese).
Sorry i'm so unskilled by the way. I'm hoping to get better, but thanks in advance for your help!
I'm puting the words I don' know in japanese, in italics:

letter:
Dear Host kazoku,
First, Hontooni arigatou gozaimasu! Kore wa (family name inserted here) no kazoku-sama no atarashii ryuuugakusei Christopher desu. It's a pleasure.
Sumimasen, dakedo boku no nihongo wa mata heta in desu. Gomen nasai, koko made ganbate tsumori, to nihongo wo benkyo shimasu. Boku wa chou ureshii (to) Kumamoto-ken ni ikimasu. (I'm so happy to come to Kumamoto?)
A few questions ga arimasu:
What is the weather like in (insert city)?----tenki wa dou desu ka de (city)??
So that I know what clothing to bring.
Is there anything for school I must bring?
Do you have pets?
What are your hobbies/what do you do on the weekends?
I will tell you more about myself if you wiish to know, and please feel free to ask questions. I look forward to hearing form you!
Well, I will see you in a month,. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!
Please take care!
Boku wa chou ureshii (to) Kumamoto-ken ni ikimasu. (I'm so happy to come to Kumamoto?)



Alright.................I jsut realized how terrible i've gotten.
I'd really appreciate the help/criticsim. Please please feel free to criticize, I can take it, (so long as it's constructive), also please tell me if there's anything I wrote in it that will be ocnsidered rude in japan.
Thanky you!!!

You are going to write it in Japanese, and not Romaji, right?

Yes, i'm going to write it in hiragana and kanji, but my kanji is limited. So there won't be a lot of it in my letter. I posted in Romaji because the computer I was using, wouldn't allow me to enter in any east asian characters.

Oh good! I was worried you were going to send a Japanese letter in romaji... that would be strange.

First I would say don't worry about it being perfect. Any effort to use Japanese will be greatly appreciated, for sure. Mistakes are OK. They understand that Japanese is hard and that you aren't a native speaker.

It's a pleasure. : よろしくお願いします　You really can't use this phrase too much.

Sumimasen, dakedo : I would probably say 悪いですけど

mata heta in desu: You mean まだ下手なんです。 That's a good phrase, and even the most skilled people at something will say it.

Boku wa chou ureshii (to) Kumamoto-ken ni ikimasu.　：　ちょう　isn't a word I would use in a letter to people I hadn't met before. I would say 熊本県に行けて、ものすごくうれしいです。

A few questions ga arimasu　：　準備とために、いくつな質問があります。

tenki wa dou desu ka de (city)??　：　Cityの天気はどうですか。

So that I know what clothing to bring.　：　持って行く洋服の事を考えております。

Is there anything for school I must bring?　：　学校のために、持って行かないとだめな物あ りませんか。

That will get you started. I bet you can answer the pet (ペット) question on your own.

what exchange program did ya use? are u going to live in japan for a year?

(i hope u don't mind the questions)

I'm using AFS. I depart in August and come back in february, it's one semester. So i'm staying with a host family and going to a highschool. Ask away, I really don't mind at all.

do you already speak Japanese (born a native)? or are you learning it as a second/third language?